[CALL FOR ABSTRACTS] Fifth International Conference Why Still Education?
“Education – Community – Resistance”

EduLab – Laboratory of Educational Theories, Institute for Philosophy and Social Theory, University of Belgrade, invites submissions for the Fifth International Why Still Education? Conference, under the title “Education - Community - Resistance” to be held in Belgrade, 7-9 October, 2024.

Schools and universities are increasingly becoming places that reflect global struggles:
from culture wars over curriculum content to economic pressures that radically change
teachers’ working conditions, the availability of education, and the very purpose of
learning. Within them, the interests of various social actors inevitably intersect,
and often clash. Educational institutions can serve as instruments of control and
reproduction of the existing order – entrenching inequalities, normalizing authority,
and limiting dissent. Conversely, education can also be a site of resistance - a space for critical thinking, challenging, social mobilization, and the creation of alternatives.

Contemporary education has a strong moral, political, and ideological dimension:
it aims, among other things, to educate active citizens and skilled entrepreneurs,
encourage care for others and the environment, foster national identity, and a sense of
belonging. The values of the wider community spill over into the educational system,
but the reverse can also be true - educational institutions and educational actors
can contribute to shaping the values of the wider community through their own,
autonomous values. If we view educational institutions as communities that possess
a certain autonomy and resilience in relation to the local and wider community,
questions arise about the principles on which they should be built as good communities.

On the other hand, contemporary social and educational contexts confront us with
forms of community that consolidate themselves through exclusion, as well as with
forms of resistance directed against democratic values. Rather than presupposing
their emancipatory character, the conference invites critical reflection on the many
directions and forms that community and resistance can take in educational contexts.
This also reopens the question of what education itself is, and ought to be, under
present social conditions.
The conference aims to open an interdisciplinary discussion on the interrelationships
between education, community, and resistance. Authors are invited to address the
following, as well as other questions they deem relevant to the conference theme:
• What is the meaning of education in new social circumstances?
• In what way does education reproduce or challenge power relations and
dominant ideologies?
• In relation to what, when, and how can education become a place and practice
of resistance?
• How do practices within educational institutions contribute to the transformation of the wider community?
• What can we learn from the movements and protests spurred by educational
actors?
• In what ways do various forms of democratic participation in education
influence the reflection on and the construction of community?
• What pedagogical practices nurture community, togetherness, and a sense
of belonging within educational institutions and outside of them? How to
overcome alienation within educational institutions?
• How do different forms of non-formal education within the community
contribute to the development of critical awareness, collective action, and
resistance?
• Given the current social circumstances, can the concepts of community and
resistance still function as markers of progressive educational practices?
The conference is open to theoretical and empirical contributions, case studies, as well
as comparative approaches from all disciplines of social sciences and humanities.

Keynote speakers:
Prof. Michalinos Zembylas, Open University of Cyprus
Prof. Aleksandar Baucal, University of Belgrade
Keynote Speaker 3 (to be announced)

In addition to individual presentations, panel proposals of three to four papers, with
a designated convener, are also welcome. Panel proposals should include the title of
the panel, panel abstract (up to 300 words), the title of the individual presentations,
individual paper abstracts (up to 300 words), and information about all panel
participants.

We especially invite teachers and educators to present school projects and teaching
initiatives that embody critical pedagogy, democratic participation, or creative
resistance. These presentations aim to highlight examples of good practice that
connect theory and action, research and education, community and resistance. We
encourage teachers to submit presentations based on their everyday practice and
experiences, such as:
• school projects related to the main themes of the conference,
• initiatives that promote students’ democratic participation,
• forms of creative or quiet resistance to injustice and bureaucratic pressures,
• examples of critical pedagogy in the classroom,
• ways of connecting the school with the local community.

Please submit proposals via the following link by May 4, 2026. Authors will be notified
of the application status by June 15, 2026. We welcome submissions in English and
Serbian. For additional information, please visit wse.ifdt.bg.ac.rs or contact wse@ifdt.bg.ac.rs